Jesse set Shea’s bag down near the end of his bed, then lit the kerosene lamp on the small, round table. It was the only furniture he had, other than the chest of drawers that held his few items of clothing, and Cruthú’s perch. It was all he needed. Having too much “stuff” only created clutter, both physically and spiritually. When he turned, he found his vampire standing just outside the doorway, looking around his room with an unreadable expression on her face.

However, he didn’t need to read her expression, or her mind, to know what she was thinking. “I won’t spell you inside this time, Shea. There’s no need. We’re the only ones anywhere near this mountain. You’re free to leave whenever you wish. Although I hope you’ll stay. At least for awhile.”

That seemed to surprise her. “They’re all gone? Even Leeha’s mutants?”

She was referring to the gray-skinned vampire hybrids, Leeha’s first attempts at creating bodies for the demons to possess. Human bodies were much too weak to handle the possession for more than a few hours. So, she had created a vampire, who in turn created more vampires, only to discover that they didn’t last long, either. Once the demons took over the juvenile vampires, the bodies began to morph and rot at a rapid pace, turning into something that resembled creatures in old horror films—only a hell of a lot more terrifying.

Eventually, Leeha had tried using an older vampire, one created by Luukas. The bodies turned by the powerful Master Vampire had worked the best, although even those would not last forever. Once the demons were in residence, the bodies would die. Some just did it faster than others.

It had angered Leeha to no end that her creation was so much weaker than Luukas’s. And Jesse had to admit that at times, he’d had a hard time containing his enjoyment of that fact.

“Jesse?”

With a start, he realized he’d never answered Shea’s question. “The gray ones are all gone. The bodies couldn’t handle the possession for very long and they died.”

“Where did they go, after the bodies died?”

“Off to possess others, I would imagine.” But he was quick to add, “Don’t worry, I’ll get them under control. Making sure they can’t re-animate their true forms is much more important right now. The power they have now is nothing compared to what they’ll be able to do as their true selves.” The lies were sour on his tongue. He didn’t like deceiving her like this, but he knew she wouldn’t have come with him if she knew the truth.

Although her green eyes were still wary, she nodded in agreement. But he saw her mind working, and soon, she came to the realization he’d been hoping to avoid discussing.

“Do all of the host bodies die? Once they’re possessed?”

He only paused a moment. He wouldn’t lie to her about this. “Eventually, yes.” He knew well where she was going with her questions.

“So, Aiden—” Her eyes silently begged him to tell her what she wanted to hear.

He hated causing her pain. “Yes. He will die, too. Eventually.”

She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and swallowed hard a few times before forcing the word out from between clenched teeth. “When?”

He shrugged. “It’s hard to say. It seems to depend on the age of the vampire and how they were created. Even their own will to survive. There are many factors.”

She nodded, and he could practically hear the gears of her supernatural mind turning in rapid succession. It was tempting to jump in there to witness it for himself, but he resisted the urge, knowing she didn’t like it. “Aiden is older than the vampires that followed Leeha here, the ones she changed. And he’s a survivor. So, we still have time to save him.”

“Perhaps.” It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but he refused to fill her full of false hope. She would only hate him more for it in the end.

Joining her at the door, he ran his eyes over her delicate features. “Please, Shea. Come in. I swear to you, you can leave here whenever you would like.”

With a last nervous glance over her shoulder at the dark passageway, she stepped inside. Her eyes went immediately to the bed. “Where am I going to sleep?”

Ah, so that’s what all the hesitancy was all about. “You can have the bed, of course.”

“Where are you going to sleep?”

His body reacted immediately to the husky tone of her voice and the way she hid her eyes from him as she asked the question. She wanted him, as much as he wanted her. It was both a relief and a torment to know.

And now he had her completely alone. “Shea. Look at me.”

He may have said that a bit more harshly than he’d intended to, for those tilted eyes of hers immediately snapped up to his in surprise. Softening his tone, he told her what he’d been fantasizing about the entire ride there. “I want to see you.”

“I’m right here.” Tiny lines of confusion appeared between her brows.

He wished he could smooth them away with his thumb. “I want to see all of you,” he clarified.

He knew the moment she got his meaning. She flashed her fangs with a hiss of warning. “Jesse, no. That’s a bad idea.”

But he didn’t stop. “I’ve imagined what you would look like naked in my bed since the moment I first saw you, Shea. Your breasts, the curve of your hips, and your long, beautiful legs…your sex. I want to see you.”

“Jesse—”

The last syllable of his name ended in a low growl that was meant to warn him, but failed miserably. The only thing her reaction succeeded in doing was to make him impossibly hard. Jesse had the sudden urge to yank the collar of his shirt away from his throat and expose his artery for her to take. He wanted to feel her fangs sink into him, feeding on his blood as he plunged into her tight body. He wanted to run his hands over every curve, taste the salt of her sweet skin—

But he couldn’t do that. It would cause her pain. However, there were other ways to be intimate. “I want to watch you come for me.”

Her lips parted on a swift intake of breath, and the tip of her tongue shot out to wet her bottom lip.

It was becoming difficult to get enough air in his lungs. “I won’t touch you, I swear. I just—” He paused, trying to think of a way to convey to her all he was feeling with words alone. “I want to be closer to you. Let me be closer to you.”

Then he waited to see how she would respond to his brash words.

Shea stood perfectly still near the end of the bed, lips parted in a semi-snarl, fangs exposed, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her quick breaths. The air was thick with tension between them. Her nipples were hard, straining toward him through the soft fabric of her clothes. Her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides. Her feet were slightly apart, legs braced, knees locked.

And her eyes—those beautiful, bright, sea-green eyes—were zeroed in on him with a hunger that was far more than sexual. It was the intense stare of a wild animal stalking its prey.

And he was that prey.

Gods, that look almost made him come in his pants. He’d never been on this end of the cycle of life. He was always the one in control. But Jesse would happily hand over that power to the stunning, intelligent, vivacious, dangerous creature in front of him. “Shea…” His voice was gruff with need. He took a halting step toward her, about to fall to his knees and beg if need be.

Her voice cut through the tension. “I want to see you, too.”

He gave her a swift nod.

“Lower the light, please.”

Jesse reached out with his mind and turned down the flame until the room was lit with only a soft glow. Cruthú chattered at him from her perch. He stroked her feathers and murmured to her without taking his eyes from his vampire, and the raven tucked her beak under her wing, settling down for the day.

Shea sat on the bed and started to unlace her boots. Pulling out one of the wooden chairs from the table, he turned it to face her and sat down, rubbing his palms on his thighs. He hadn’t felt this anxious since…well, he never had.

Once her boots were off and lined up neatly beside the bed, she raised her head, but didn’t stand. She was nervous. He could feel it. But he didn’t say anything else, afraid the sound of his voice would pull them out of the moment, and she would stop what was happening before they even got started.

When her eyes skittered around the room, looking anywhere but at him, he knew he would have to take the initiative, so he kicked off his shoes and stood to remove his sweater.

It got the effect he wanted. Her nervous gaze shot back over to him, and when she saw what he was doing, she stood also, following his lead with shaky movements.

Pulling the luxurious knit over his head, he dropped it carelessly to the floor. Shea’s eyes ran over his bare chest and stomach. The heat of her gaze branded him like fire, and it was pure torture to imagine what it would feel like to have her touch him. He heard her pulse kick up as she pulled off her shirt, laying it neatly on the bed. The tops of her breasts spilled from the confines of a red, low-cut bra, threatening to break free with every breath she took. She hesitated, uncertain.

“Take off your jeans,” he ordered in a husky tone. Jesse didn’t want to rush, but he was uncomfortably hard, and they’d barely gotten started. He sat down again to remove his socks, never taking his eyes from her while he dropped them to the side and stood. His hands dropped to his own waistband, but he made no move to undo the fastening and ease his own discomfort. Not yet. She wasn’t seeing anymore until he did. “Do it, Shea.”

As if in a trance, she undid the fastening and slid her hands inside. Slowly, she pushed the material from her rounded hips, revealing nothing but a slip of red lace covering her sex. She bent over as she pushed them down to her ankles and lifted each foot to pull them off.

Jesse let out a sound of frustration when her hair swung forward, covering the sight of her breasts. But then she straightened and stood proudly before him in nothing but her red bra and panties, and he discovered his imagination had been severely, horribly, lacking. He’d pictured this moment many, many times over the past weeks, but nothing had prepared him for the reality of his vampire nearly nude and hungry for him.

Her face and chest flushed with color as he ran his eyes from her full breasts, down her smooth stomach, over the curve of her hips and shapely legs, to her bare toes, and all the way back again. He savored this moment, taking his time. She had a beauty mark next to her navel, shaped like quarter moon, and the crimson color of the underwear she’d chosen was striking on her, with her ivory skin and dark hair. It almost made him hesitant to say what he was about to say. Almost, but not quite.

“Now, take off the rest.”

The corners of her mouth curved up in a nervous, yet teasing, smile. “You first, warlock.”

With narrowed eyes, he complied, pushing his slacks down his legs and kicking them off to join his sweater. He debated staying in his boxer briefs for his own self-control, but decided against it when he took in her reaction to what she was seeing so far. Hooking his thumbs beneath the waistband, he lifted it up and over the swollen mass of his manhood, and then slid them down his hips and legs. His sex hung thick and heavy, drops of pre-come glistening on the tip.

Shea stared with unabashed curiosity, her tongue flicking out to lick her lips again, like she was imagining tasting him. She even took a step forward, before stopping again with a growl of frustration.

“Shea.”

She tore her eyes away to look up at him.

“The rest. Take it off.”

Instead of obeying him right away, she closed her eyes tight for a moment. When she opened them again, they were shiny with unshed tears. “I want to touch you,” she whispered, flashing her fangs on a hiss as her eyes dropped back down his body. “Jesse, I want to touch you more than anything.”

Blood surged, swelling his cock even as her impatience and sorrow washed over him. He pushed those feelings away. He would worry about that later. Right now, he wanted to please her. “I want you to touch me, too, love.” He said nothing else, knowing there was no point. But he would make this as good as he could for her. “Now do as I told you, and take off the rest.” His tone would brook no more argument. “I’m going to make you come, Shea, without ever touching you. I’m going to make you come so hard you won’t even realize that it’s not me doing it.”

Reaching behind her, Shea unclasped her bra and shrugged the straps off her shoulders. Her breasts spilled from the cups, full and round, with large, rose-colored areolas and firm nipples. She set it on her pile of clothes and faced him again.

Perfect. She was fucking perfect.

After a moment of indecision, she slid off her underwear, and as Jesse stood staring at this stunning female before him, he was overcome with the urge to make her his own in every way possible. And never allow her to leave him again.

Grabbing the chair from behind him without taking his eyes from her, he carried it across the room and swung it around in front of him, setting it down as close to the bed as he dared. “Get on the bed, love.”

Shea sat down, scooting back until she was leaning up against the wall.

“No, lay down.”

She did as he requested, and he took a seat on the chair. For a moment, he just looked at the amazing sight laid out before him.

Gods, what to do with her first? Jesse had to admit, this was a new situation for him. He kept his voice low. “I want you to imagine my hands touching you, my lips and tongue on your skin. But I don’t want you to do anything until I tell you to do it. Can you handle that?”

“Yes.” She fisted the blanket on either side of her and rubbed her thighs together eagerly.

Jesse leaned back in the chair and took himself in his hand. A low moan escaped before he could stop himself.

Shea tensed, watching him closely.

“Touch your breasts. Show me how you like to be touched.”

She immediately did as he said, the flesh spilling from her small hands as she manipulated her breasts, squeezing them and then running her palms lightly over the nipples. They puckered to her touch, and she pinched them between her fingers as her hips moved restlessly on the bed.

“No. Don’t close your eyes. Look at me. Look at what you’re doing to me.”

Her eyes darkened until they were nearly black as she watched him run his hand up and down his shaft, squeezing the base as he swelled even larger, the head glistening with his desire.

Shea moaned, biting her bottom lip, her fangs drawing drops of blood that she tasted with her tongue. Her back arched as one hand left her breast to ease toward her sex, but she stopped short and looked at him uncertainly.

Jesse watched every move, becoming more determined with every passing second that one day soon, it would be his hands and his mouth making her squirm. “Shea, I want you to spread your legs. I want to look at you. I want to see your desire for me.”

Slowly, she let her knees fall apart.

Jesse leaned to the side to see. “Wider.”

She slid her legs open wider, exposing herself completely for his viewing pleasure. Her sex was smooth and plump under the “V” of dark curls protecting it. Jesse leaned closer and started reaching for her before he caught himself and pulled his hand back. He wrapped it around his sex again. “Use your hands and open yourself more for me.”

“Jesse—”

“Show me.” He knew she would lose her nerve if he let her, so he didn’t plan on letting her. If he had to threaten her into a fucking orgasm, he would.

Hesitant at first, she ran both hands down her stomach, then did as he told her, sliding her fingers through the curls and opening herself wider.

Jesse moaned, tightening his fist around the base of his cock again in an effort for control. He wanted to bury his nose in those curls, and run his tongue through the glistening folds of satiny skin she’d revealed. She was already so wet for him—he wanted to taste her desire. He could see her swollen clitoris, pulsing with her blood flow.

Moving around to the end of the bed, he braced his weight on his palms and leaned down until his face was as close to her as he dared. Inhaling the unique scent of her sex, he closed his eyes. “I want to taste you, Shea. So badly.”

She moaned, her hips rising off the bed in offering. “Jesse, please.”

Pushing himself away from her, he kneeled at the end between her legs, careful not to touch her skin. “Touch your breast. Only one. Leave your other hand where it is.”

She followed his order, her back arching as she massaged the firm mound.

“Pinch your nipple between your fingers. Imagine it’s my mouth on you, warm and wet, and my tongue flicking it.” He pumped his fist up and down his length.

Rolling her nipple between her fingers, Shea bared her fangs as she watched him pleasure himself.

“Lift your hips, and put one finger inside yourself.” She did, sliding it in and out as her other hand continued to play with her nipple.

Jesse cupped his balls with his free hand as he watched her, but slowed his other hand, afraid he would spend himself before she did. “Keep playing with your nipple, and move your fingers to your clit.”

Her eyes rolled back in her head and her back arched when she touched the little bundle of nerves. Jesse reached out to her, wrapping her in his aura. He felt her lust for him, and shared his with her. When her eyes opened again, they were hot and bright. She moved her fingers, her fangs bared as she played with herself, her breath coming in short pants.

Gods, she was beautiful. “I want to fuck you so badly, Shea. I want to feel your wet heat tight around my sex.” His balls tightened as he watched her work herself up. He fought for control. “I can’t hold back much longer. Come for me, love. I want you to come for me.”

She cried out. It was a frustrated sound. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. I want to see you come, Shea.”

“This isn’t enough. Jesse, I want more.”

Jesse knew what she needed. And he knew how to give it to her. Without taking his eyes from her, he held one hand out, fingers wide.

A small pairing knife lay next to his glass on the table across the room. It began to vibrate, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, until it rose from the table and flew across the distance to smack into his palm. His fingers closed around the handle.

Shea gasped, her eyes on the knife.

He released his cock on a hiss, and lifted his wrist so she could see, then pressed the knife blade against his skin.